


Saturday Morning

by Hare_Brained_Scheme



Category: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Short Films)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26313862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hare_Brained_Scheme/pseuds/Hare_Brained_Scheme
Summary: After he married Ortensia, the nightmares occurred farther and farther apart. It took years, but eventually they disappeared altogether, like fog touched by the first rays of the sunrise. But still, everyday he woke up at 5 A.M., just as he did when the nightmares would pull him out of sleep. After years and years of following the same routine, his body just woke up naturally.Not that he was complaining. How could he when the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes, was the love of his life a mere inches from his own face, dreaming peacefully?
Relationships: Ortensia/Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Saturday Morning

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic! Please leave feedback if you enjoy! Or in other words, an entirely self indulgent fic of Oswald loving his wife for 2000+ words
> 
> If Disney won't give me canon Oswald x Ortensia I'll write it myself dagnabit!

Oswald woke up instantly. There was no transition, no gentle lull out of the world of sleep. One moment he was in a dreamless sleep, the next he was opening his eyes to the new day. The world of the waking was still dark, too dark to see all the corners of his bedroom.

He didn't have to glance at the clock on the nightstand to know it was 5 A.M. on a Saturday morning. It had been the same everyday for years. His biological clock, ever punctual, ever precise, would wake him from sleep everyday at 5 o'clock, on the dot. In the earlier years, it used to be nightmares that woke him. 

In his dreams he would walk alone through a maze of inky black walls, towering over him as far as the eye could see. He was trying to find something… or someone? A shadow would disappear behind a corner and he would run after them, sudden desperation pounding against his ribcage. But the figure was always just out of reach. No matter how far he ran, the figure would always disappear behind a corner before he could reach them. 

“Wait! Don’t go! Don’t leave me!” he tried to cry out, but he found that he had no voice and the more he tried to scream, the harder it became to breathe. Through a choking panic, he desperately grappled trying to remember where he was, how he had gotten lost in this maze, but cold icy terror gripped his heart when he realized he couldn't remember anything, he couldn't remember his own name.

And then he was falling, falling into an endless well of oblivion, the light above him growing smaller into nothingness. Just like him, falling into nothingness, forgotten and unloved.

For most of his life, he would wake up alone in a cold sweat. When Ortenisa first began sleeping by his side he would waken from her nudging his shoulder, whispering his name. He would blink in confusion, suddenly pulled into the realm of consciousness where he wasn't falling, but safely in their bed and Ortensia would tell him he had been crying in his sleep again.

But that was years ago. After he married Ortensia, the nightmares occurred farther and farther apart. It took years, but eventually they disappeared altogether, like fog touched by the first rays of the sunrise. But still, everyday he woke up at 5 A.M., just as he did when the nightmares would pull him out of sleep. After years and years of following the same routine, his body just woke up naturally. 

Not that he was complaining. How could he when the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes, was the love of his life a mere inches from his own face, dreaming peacefully?

Oswald and Ortensia both were laying on their sides, facing one another, noses only a few inches apart. Oswald smiled to himself as he outlined the features of her face with his eyes. Her short pointed ears at the sides of her head, perky and relaxed as ever. The right side of her face lay flat against a pillow, her nose, lips, and gently closed eyes were still and relaxed, devoid of any expression, simply calm and eased in their neutral state. 

It was the same face he had woken up to every morning for nearly a decade and a half, but the years had begun to show. Smile lines were beginning to permanently settle in the corners of her eyes. Her fur wasn't quite as full and shiny as it had been when they were in their 20's. He even spotted a few gray hairs in the mix. She was even more beautiful to him now than the day he met her. He briefly wondered what differences she must see in his face.

Oswald stifled a yawn and slowly stretched his legs and shoulders. He had to be careful not to move around too much. Ortensia was a lighter sleeper than him. Feeling his spine elongate and pop, he held the position for a few moments before relaxing and curling back towards his center. He nudged his feet lightly beneath the sheets, feeling his way around the mattress until he found Ortensia's own. Lightly, very lightly, he rubbed the side of her foot with his own. Bumping toes to heels, ankles to arches, Oswald poked around until his feet were comfortably nestled against her own. Her breathing hitched ever so slightly and Oswald froze. He watched her breath until it fell back into a steady rhythm and he knew she was safely in deep sleep.

Oswald sighed softly to himself. Today was Saturday. That meant the earliest risers of the kids would begin waking up around 8, but most wouldn’t be out of bed until 9. By 9:30 they'd all be bouncing around the house whining for breakfast. Breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and some sliced strawberries and bananas, so they could at least get some nutrients. There were still some cold cuts and cheese that could be whipped into sandwiches for lunch, but about 1/5th of his kids preferred PB&J, but they were nearly out of peanut butter, he wondered if they would notice if he substituted almond butter. 

He'd have to do some grocery shopping today. Peas, carrots, mashed potatoes and meatloaf for dinner at 7:00. So breakfast at 9:00, lunch ready at 1:30, and dinner at 7:00. That gave him three and a half hours to re-shingle the roof and fix the vacuum cleaner after breakfast was finished. Then grocery shopping at 1:00, with a quick stop at the hardware store to pick up supplies to fix the leak in the bathroom sink.

He also promised to help Horrace fix his radiator today. And after that Pete was paying him to take a look at his roadster's engine, did he have the time to do that before he had to make it back home to start prepping dinner? And what about after dinner? He still had to go through the kids immunization records and make sure everyone was up to date on their vaccines. He might be able to knock that out in one night if no disturbances came up. Not likely.

Dawn's blue light was beginning to peak in through the curtains, giving a soft glow to the bedroom. Ortensisa continued to breath softly into her pillow. Oswald knew if he got up now he could get a head start on the day, get a jump on this week's meal prep, finish reshingling the roof and cleaning up the house before anyone was awake, start cooking the kid's breakfast so it'd be ready as soon as they woke up, then once they were done eating they'd be off, running around town, terrorizing townsfolk, having their own adventures, bonding with their siblings and making memories that would eventually become defining to their childhood. 

If he got up now there was a chance he could get started on the immunization records by late afternoon, before most of the kids started wandering back home and pulling his attention to whatever game, or broken toy, or argument they needed resolved.  
He should definitely get up now. He should absolutely climb out of bed this minute, shower, brush his teeth, put on a pot of coffee and get a head start on the day. 

But he didn't. He never did. Because this part of the day- in bed next to Ortensia, during the quiet hours of the morning, before the rest of the world had a chance to pull them apart- was his favorite.

He lied still as to not disturb Ortensia's slumber because he knew, once she awoke, she'd be swept into her own whirlwind. Chasing after the kids, making sure all 420 of them had brushed their teeth, finished their breakfast, and received their morning hug and kiss before they ran out the door. Saturdays were the busiest days at her dance studio. Not to mention the other errands she’d run throughout the day, and of course, making time to tend to her garden. 

Both of them would be busy all day today. Even the time spent at home would be filled with household work that had to be done, or helping the kids with whatever shenanigans they got themselves into today. 

But Oswald could not be daunted. How could he be? No matter what happened in between, he knew the day would end just as it began-by Ortensia's side, beneath the same blanket, heads resting in the same place. And tomorrow he would get to do it all again.

He placed an arm over her midsection, gently, as not to wake her. He felt her sigh beneath the weight of his arm and lean into him.

He smiled.

His beloved Ortensia was the smartest, sweetest, most fearless person he had ever met. But it was her kindness that was her dominant quality- so warm and bright, it outshone everything else. People who knew her were often surprised when they saw the qualities that lay just below her surface- headstrong, fierce, formidable.

In his years, he had met many brave and daring adventurers but there were none whom he trusted to have his back more than his beloved Ortensia. Oswald could say with absolute certainty, there was no one else he would rather brave a storm with, her bravery, her pluck, her quiet and pointed determination, made her the greatest life partner in all things.

Most people didn't realize that Ortensia's fuse was shorter than Oswald's because her patience was endless when it came to the kids. But once it was blown, she was a force to be reckoned with.

And he loved her for it.

Yet, as strong as she was, she always chose to be kind, patient, generous and loving to everyone she met.  
She was better than he could ever wish to be.

And he loved her for it.

Goodness, how he loved her. He had come to the conclusion that loving her was inevitable. He had fallen in love with her a million times in this life alone. In a million other lifetimes, in a million other universes, he would fall in love with her indefinitely.

By some incomprehensible stroke of luck, she had loved him too.

As light began to fill the darker corners of the room, Oswald reminisced over all the years he had shared with his wife. From fighting pirates on their honeymoon, to battling an outbreak of the common cold just last week- which in their household, was nothing short of plague-level quarantine. Everyday with her was an adventure. 

As the sun stretched further above the mountain peaks and its rays fanned themselves across the room, Oswald glanced at the clock, 7 A.M. One more hour before she woke. He closed his eyes and listened to the steady rhythmic sound of her breathing. 

The alarm went off at 8 A.M. like it always did on a Saturday morning. With a sigh , Ortensia reached over and shut it off on it's first ring. She yawned to herself and rolled back over to face her sleeping husband.

"Good morning honey bunny," she said, dropping a kiss on his cheek.

Oswald snored lightly to himself, undisturbed by the alarm. Her husband was a much heavier sleeper than herself. He wouldn't wake up for another hour, she knew. He always slept late on weekends.

'You big ol' bag of lazy bones," she cooed to the rabbit sleeping beside her, dropping another kiss on the corner of his mouth.

In truth, Ortensia really didn't mind. In fact, she was glad Oswald was getting 10 hours of undisturbed sleep. Nightmares used to wake him at the crack of dawn everyday, poor thing. It was years into their marriage when he finally began to sleep until morning’s light. After all that time, he deserved a few extra hours of sleep on weekends. Not to mention, he spent the days running around, chasing after the kids, doing chores around the house, performing favors for their friends and neighbors. 

And the cooking! Heaven knows, feeding their army of children was no small task. Speaking of which, Ortenisa knew she had about an hour to shower, brush her teeth and hair, get dressed before their rugrats started waking up and crying for breakfast. 

With a sigh, she rolled out of bed untangling her feet from her husband's large rabbit feet. How did they manage to get tangled up every night? She was sure they never fell asleep that way. But as quickly as it came, the thought was pushed from her head and replaced by another. It was a beautiful morning and she wanted to do something special for her husband. 

It was birds singing- not an alarm-that woke Oswald. With a grunt, he glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. 10 A.M., an hour later than his alarm had been set to go off. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he climbed out of bed and made his way down stairs. 

When he entered the kitchen, a couple dozen of the kids were seated at the large dining room table, full plates in front of them. He found Ortensia standing over the stovetop, spatula in hand,and humming to herself.

“What’s this? 

“Good morning Ozzy Wozzy-kins,” his wife purred as she flipped a blackened pancake over in the skillet. The kids who had already been served prodded their food suspiciously and nibbled around the crips edges of their lumpy shaped pancakes. 

“I just thought I’d start on breakfast today, let you sleep a little while longer.”

“Aww, you didn’t have to do that dear.”

“I wanted to,” she said simply.

“You’re the greatest, Honeybunch. I’ll take over from here,” he said, planting a kiss on her cheek and reaching for the bowl of batter on the counter. 

“Hmm alright. I better go check on the rest of the kids anyway. I heard excited whispering not that long ago and they’ve been suspiciously quiet since. I wonder who they’ve glued to the ceiling this time.”

She handed him the spatula but when their fingers grazed, a smile spread over her and she pulled Oswald in for a long, passionate kiss. When they broke they children made vomiting noises over their pancakes.

“What was that for?” Oswald asked, voice drunk and still flushed from the kiss.

“Mmm, just because,” her eyes sparkled coyly and a sly smile sneaked over the corner of her mouth. She turned and made her way to the kids’ rooms. 

He watched her go and felt his heart tumble and leap just as it did when he was a spry 22-year old. He might age, but his heart did not it seemed. 

“Daaaaad...you’re making goo-goo eyes again.” 

“Pull back my ears Junior, I’m going to puke!”

“Alright! Alright! Enough with the dramatics!” Oswald snapped. “Who wants pancakes?”

“Me! Me!”’ the kids cried, despite the mostly untouched pancakes on their plate. 

Despite his feigned annoyance, he smiled to himself as he began stirring out the lumps in the batter. When was the last time he made Ortensia breakfast in bed? He decided tomorrow morning instead of falling back asleep he would get out of bed a few hours earlier and surprise her with something special. The kids could have donuts. He’d better call the bakery today and place an order for 35 dozen donuts in advance.

The batter sizzled when it met the pan. He whistled while he cooked. Crepes, she would love crepes and fresh raspberries. He’d be sure to pick up the stuff while at the grocery store today. He flipped four perfectly golden and round pancakes consecutively over his shoulder, heard them land on the kid’s plates, and the small rise of cheers from those who were lucky to get the first pancakes and pouts from those who were left waiting. 

In a different room he heard Ortensia sigh softly. 

“Honestly, you’ve been awake for less than an hour and you’re already up to your mischief. What is your father going to say about this?”

Oswald smiled. He loved Saturday mornings.


End file.
